“I got surgery within months and radiotherapy. That was all in 2010. I had great treatment in St Vincent’s Hospital and great radiotherapy in St Luke’s Hospital.”

He added: “I remember coming out of St Luke’s in 2010 and there was another big snow drop and professor Armstrong gave me the all clear. So I skipped out of there clicking my heals. I was euphoric with the news.

“But I remember coming out of the doors of St Luke’s Hospital, all the sadness that was still in there and the people were still going to hear some bad news.”

In the years that followed, Conor’s career sky-rocketed.

From being crowned the UFC’s first ever two-weight champion to fighting in the most lucrative boxing match in the sport’s history last August, Tony never saw it coming.